Building structures

ABSTRACT

A building and wall structure is provided which is made up of a frame, a plurality of side by side vertical panels of fiber reinforced resin fixed to said frame, each panel having spaced vertical base strips and overlying slats, said vertical base strips of adjacent panels abutting each other on said frame, an overlay sealing slat fixed to said base strips over said adjacent and abutting edges with an adhesive mastic, overlay finish strips on the frame at top and bottom overlaying the ends of said vertical panels and having a returned position abutting the face of said panels adjacent said ends, and a pair of L shaped corner members overlaying the edges of base strips at each corner of said structure, one overlaying the other and fixed thereto with adhesive mastic.

States atent [191 Franzese 1 BUILDING STRUCTURES [75] Inventor: Douglas Franzlese, St. Petersburg,

Fla.

[73] Assignee: Morgan Yacht Corporation, St.

Petersburg, Fla.

22 Filed: Mar. 20, 1972 21 Appl.No.: 236,411

[111 3,830,028 [451 Aug. 20, 1974 Primary Examiner-Henry C. Sutherland Assistant Examiner lames L. Ridgill, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Buell, Blenko & Ziesenheim [57] ABSTRACT A building and wall structure is provided which is made up of a frame, a plurality of side by side vertical panelsof fiber reinforced resin fixed to said frame, each panel having spaced vertical base strips and overlying slats, said vertical base strips of adjacent panels abutting each other on said frame, an overlay sealing slat fixed to said base strips over said adjacent and abutting edges with an adhesive mastic, overlay finish strips on the frame at top and bottom overlaying the ends of said vertical panels and having a returned position abutting the face of said panels adjacent said ends, and a pair of L shaped corner members overlaying the edges of base strips at each corner of said structure, one overlaying the other and fixed thereto with adhesive mastic.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures [56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,687,087 10/1928 Farch 52/311 1,895,210 1/1933 Schermerhorn 52/627 2,186,684 1/1940 Ritter 52/309 2,888,819 2/1959 Sitton 52/309 3,407,555 10/1968 Pugh 52/288 3,628,297 12/1971 Richardson 5 2/31 1 3,704,561 12/1972 Meyer 52/309 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,345,991 11/1963 France 52/288 BUILDING STRUCTURES This invention relates to building structure and particularly to prefabricated siding panels and corner structures forming building sidewalls.

The field of building construction has produced a great need for building structures and specifically sidewalls, both interior and exterior, which can be quickly applied, are completely finished when applied and which resist deterioration in service. Various types of plywood and metal siding structures have been proposed for this purpose and with considerable success, however, all of the structures known to me in this field are deficient in one or more highly desirable qualities. Plywood, for example, must generally be finished in the field and in most cases the joints are difficult to cover or conceal. In the case of metal, the joints are similarly either very complex or very difficult to cover or conceal.

In the present invention, 1 provide a building structure which overcomes these problems of both plywood and metal and has the additional advantage of being virtually totally resistant to deterioration in service.

Preferably 1 provide a building sidewall structure comprising a frame, a plurality of side by side vertical panels of fiber reenforced resin fixed to said frame, each panel having spaced vertical base strips connected by overlying ribs, or slats, the vertical edge base strips of adjacent panels abutting each other, an overlay rib or slat fixed to said base strips over said adjacent edges with an adhesive mastic, an overlying finish strip over the ends of said vertical panels and fixed to said frame and a pair of L shaped corner members overlying the edges of base strips at each corner of said structure, one overlying the other, the innermost of said corner members being fixed to said frame and the one overlying said innermost corner member being applied thereto by adhesive mastic. Preferably the vertical panels, overlay ribs, finish strips and corner members are formed of a fiberglass reenforced plastic such as a polyester resin or an epoxy resin of any of the well known compositions for such use. The corner members are preferably of L shaped configuration with a swell vertical flange on the end of the base. The wall panels, finish strips and corner members are preferably provided with a wood grained surface finish with the resin including the desired wood color tint. This arrangement of wall structure provides for all exposed joints and fasteners to be completely covered from the weather and thus not only is the panel structure itself resistant to deterioration but it protects those elements which might deteriorate if exposed to weathering.

In the foregoing general description I have set out certain objects, purposes and advantages of my invention. Other objects, purposes and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view partly cut away of a sidewall according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a segment of the sidewall of FIG. 1 partly cut away;

HO. 3 is a section on the line lll--lll of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a section on the line lVIV of the corner of the sidewall of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings 1 have illustrated a sidewall structure 10 terminating in corner 11. The sidewall structure 10 is made up of a wooden frame having top 12 and bottom 13 sills with vertical studs 14 separating them at spaced points along their length. Fixed to top and bottom sills 12 and 13 by nails or screws 15 are side by side vertical panels 16 of fiberglass reenforced resin. Each panel 16 is made up of a plurality of spaced base strips 16a and overlying ribs 16b formed as a single unitary structure.

At each vertical joint 17 between adjacent panels 16, a slat 18, identical in appearance with ribs 16b is fixed to the adjacent base strips 16a by adhesive mastic 19. This completely seals the joint between adjacent panels and covers any edge fasteners 15 used to fix the panels to the frame 10. At the top of each sidewall a finish Y strip 20 of fiberglass reenforced resin is attached to the frame 10 to overlay the panel top edge 16c. Preferably the finish strip 20 is in the form of flat sheet having an inturned edge 20b forming a cove like overlay against the top of panels 16. Similarly at the bottom of the sidewall a like finish strip 21 having an inturned edge 21b forming a quarter round like overlay against the bottom is provided. The junction of each of the finish strips and panel face is caulked with a plastic caulking compound 22. It is, of course, obvious that identical finish strips could be used at top and bottom of the panel. At each corner 11 the vertical panel base strips 16a are nailed to studs and sills as usually and overlaid with slats 18 attached by mastic 19. A first L shaped elongated corner member 23 is attached to the corner stud by nails 24 extending through the vertical leg 23a of the L shaped member with the base member 23b extending over the next adjacent sidewall with inturned lip 23c bearing on slat 18. The vertical leg 25a of a second L shaped corner member 25 is then attached to the base 23b of the first L shaped member by mastic 26 with the base 25 of this second member extending back over the leg 23a of the first L shaped member and the slat 18 on the adjacent sidewall with inturned lip 25c bearing against slat 18. The joint of each lip 23c, 25c and slat 18 is caulked with plastic caulking compound, thus completely sealing the outside corner junction of adjacent walls. It is obvious that an inside corner can be sealed by abutting a slat 18 against an adjacent slat 18 of the intersepting wall and caulking the abutting joint or sealing the same with adhesive mastic as the last slat 18 is applied.

In the foregoing specification l have described and illustrated a present preferred embodiment of building and wall structure according to this invention, however, it will be obvious to men skilled in this art that the invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A building and wall structure comprising a frame, a plurality of adjacent side by side vertical panels of fiber reenforced resin fixed to said frame, said adjacent panels abutting each other on said frame along a vertical line an overlay facing sealing slat fixed to said base strips over said vertical line and said adjacent and abutting edges with an adhesive mastic, overlay finish strips on the frame at top and bottom overlaying the ends of said vertical panels and having a returned portion abutting the face of said panels adjacent said ends, and a pair of L shaped comer members overlaying the edges of base strips at each corner of said structure, one overbers are formed of fiberglass reenforced polyester resin.

4. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the panel members, slats, finish strips and corner members are formed of fiberglass reenforced epoxy resin.

5. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vertical panels are formed of a unitary structure having the appearance of alternate ribs overlying alternate base strips as a board and batten configuration and the alternate ribs of the panel and the overlay sealing slat are of like shape.

UNITED STATES l ATENT OFFIFCEJ CERTIFICATE. 0F I Patent No. 3,830,028 Dated AugustZb, 1974 Invent-(Hummus FRANZESE It is certified that error appears in the above1de nt1fied patent and that saidLetters Patent are hereby corrected as show below:

In the Abstract, lines '10 and 11, "'posit ion" should read portion-.

Signed and sealed this 12th day of November 1974.

(SEAL) Attest: x I McCOY M. GIBSON JR. 0. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissloner of Patents FORM M050 I uscoMM-oc 60376-P69 .5. GOVIINHENT 'IIITIIG OFFICE 2 0-3.8'33. 

1. A building and wall structure comprising a frame, a plurality of adjacent side by side vertical panels of Fiber reenforced resin fixed to said frame, said adjacent panels abutting each other on said frame along a vertical line an overlay facing sealing slat fixed to said base strips over said vertical line and said adjacent and abutting edges with an adhesive mastic, overlay finish strips on the frame at top and bottom overlaying the ends of said vertical panels and having a returned portion abutting the face of said panels adjacent said ends, and a pair of L shaped corner members overlaying the edges of base strips at each corner of said structure, one overlying the other and fixed thereto with adhesive mastic whereby the frame and vertical panels are peripherally enclosed to prevent access of the weather elements to said frame.
 2. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said L shaped corner members lie in opposite directions to one another, the innermost of said corner members being fixed to said frame and the outermost overlaying said innermost corner member and fixed thereto with adhesive mastic.
 3. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the panel members, slats, finish strips and corner members are formed of fiberglass reenforced polyester resin.
 4. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the panel members, slats, finish strips and corner members are formed of fiberglass reenforced epoxy resin.
 5. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vertical panels are formed of a unitary structure having the appearance of alternate ribs overlying alternate base strips as a board and batten configuration and the alternate ribs of the panel and the overlay sealing slat are of like shape. 